I dunno....

I admit, I spent half of my "music ministry" time this a.m., (as opposed to the stop-take-a-deep-breath-kneel-down-and-remember-why-you're-here time...) ever so slightly steamed.
When I checked in, in the sacristy, to ascertain if anything odd, or previously undisclosed was going to happen, I learned from priest A that priest B, who had the anticipated Mass complained that "everything was too slow."
Now, priest A habitually, as in two out of three weekends, complains that something was too slow; priest B? never before to my knowledge.
And without thinking I blurted out that that was surprising since he was three beats behind the organ and the cantor for most of the Mass.
So by the time choir Mass was over, the choir, all except the members who are also cantors, (and thus, privy to the on-going criticism of tempi,) were looking at me as if I had taken leave of my senses.
The thing is, my internal metronome is, objectively, slightly fast.
From the first Mass I played here cantors, choir and congregation members have regularly asked me why everything is so fast. (Actually, that is inaccurate. No member of the congregation has ever asked me anything. They tell me things. No ambivalence, no passive-aggressive manipulation going on -- I don't like the way you..., what the hell was that? I hate that....., You're a terrible cantor, I can't sing in your keys!
No shrinking violets, they.
And I'm not exaggerating, or paraphrasing.)
And I have pretty much ignored them. Well, mostly ignored them.
And yet also from the beginning, priest A has been on me, and he's been on the former early morning organist, and on the cantors, that everything is too slow.
Some of the tempi this morning were absurd.
And he said, "that's better."
Better than what??!?@?#??! He wasn't even at the Mass yesterday to whihc he was "comparing" it.
Oh, well.
Maybe I'll program Pescador....
I wonder how my predecessors fared -- I can't get any of them to tell me anything about tempi, and I know two of them take everything much slower than I.